Amsterdam man guilty of several fraud counts

Friday, February 08, 2013 - Updated: 5:29 PM

A former Amsterdam man was convicted this week of 15 charges related to fraudulent activity.

According to U.S. District Court documents, David L. Smith, 67, now of Saratoga Springs, was charged Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Utica with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud, six counts of securities fraud, and three counts of filing a false tax return.

The charges stem from a January 2012 30-count indictment of Smith and Timothy McGinn, 67, now of the state of Florida, both partners in the broker-dealer McGinn, Smith & Co. Inc.

Court documents say that Smith and McGinn offered and sold approximately $37 million of unregistered securities to investors in the form of investments in 17 different trusts and diverted about $4.1 million "for their own benefit."

The document says that as a result of "material misrepresentations and material omissions" investors in the trusts were unaware that the money was improperly diverted for their own use and without authorization.

A jury found Smith guilty of 15 of the 30 charges.

Smith, formerly a member of Amsterdam High School's "Fabulous Five" basketball team from the 1960s, will be sentenced on June 28 at 11 a.m. in Utica.